


Waking Up

by SpencerRemyLvr



Series: Dragon Rider AU [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bonding, Hurt Sam, Hurt/Comfort, The Cage, hell memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 07:55:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12228744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpencerRemyLvr/pseuds/SpencerRemyLvr
Summary: Sam wakes up and meets his dragon





	Waking Up

Even before Sam woke up, he registered a warm weight on his chest. It was rose and fell with each breath he took yet never once slid away. Strangely enough, he wasn’t worried about it. He didn’t feel any worry at all. Not even the darkness that hinted at the edges of his mind was enough to break through the sense of peace that he felt. His soul was strangely quiet after the agony it’d been in.

When he opened his eyes, he was abruptly reminded why. There, directly in front of him, was the slender face of a dragon.

 _His_ dragon.

For a moment he just let himself lay there and look at her. One of the first things he noticed was that she was definitely young. The second was that she was female. That much was easy for Sam to _feel_. Their bond told him that the form she was currently in was her large one, part of what told him how young she was. Because her large for wasn’t very big. A housecat, maybe? Not that it mattered. All Sam could think of was that she was the most beautiful being he’d ever seen. He felt her happiness echo inside his mind as she gave a content little rumble. “Flatterer. Tell me more.”

Sam smothered a small smile. It wasn’t like it’d be hard to continue to flatter her. Her coloring was this strange mixture of both dark and light. She was black from snout to tail tip, yet there was this edge of something lighter to it. A hint of light at the edge of the shadows. It was there in the smoky grey of her eyes, too, a subtle hint of light ready to shine bright.

There was quite the difference between her and Ryk. Sam couldn’t help but notice them. Where Ryk was thick and solid, a stone mountain that could hold you up or squash you down, T’zili was – she was smoke. Thin and slender, long and fluid. Her neck was longer, her body thinner, without the hints of sheer mass that Ryk had. She had a long tail, almost twice the length of the rest of her, and with no spikes on the end. There were no real spikes at all – not on her tail, not down her back, not even at the joints of her wings. But on her head, she had five horns just barely there, another sign of how young she was. There was the start of one on her snout just above her nose, and then two on either side of her head right behind the two fans that sheltered her ears and the horn bases. The horns themselves were an even darker black than the rest of her. Truly dark.

She was going to grow up to be absolutely stunning.

“My Rider,” she said, her voice a low, raspy rumble, yet very distinctly female. “I’ve waited a long time for you.”

“Sam.” It wasn’t what he wanted to say, yet it was what came out. Looking up at her face, he found himself telling her “My name’s Sam.”

She gave a low little trill of amusement and contentment and then bent her head down to nuzzle briefly against his chest. “Mine is T’zili.”

T’zili. _His dragon_. The one thing that Sam had never thought would happen to him, something that he’d never stopped wanting, and now he had it. There was no denying the bond that lit up his mind. Sam could feel her deep down inside of him. They were connected completely, twined together deeper than he’d expected. Quite a bit deeper. Usually there was a bit of time that took for a bond to fully settle in between a Pair. This didn’t _feel_ new. It felt firm and solid.

T’zili turned her head to nuzzle with the other side of her face. “I was wrapped around the broken parts of your soul, Sam, and you let me in. There’s no deeper tie than that.”

A shiver ran down Sam’s frame as he was abruptly reminded of what happened, and how she’d saved him. He’d been fighting to pull together his very soul after the Cage-memories had shattered it. All because Castiel had… he’d ripped down Sam’s Wall, unleashed the full wrath of those memories on him, all because they were in his way. He wanted to keep them from trying to stop him and he hadn’t cared about hurting Sam in the process. Sam had been nothing more than a tool – a means to an end. The knowledge of that _hurt_.

The warm body lying on his vibrated ever so slightly with her growl. T’zili climbed forward, gentle so as not to claw his skin, and pushed her head up until she could nuzzle his face. Sam knew enough about dragons to know that most of them were at least somewhat tactile, though some more than others. They all had their ways of showing affection. Ryk liked to headbutt Dean or press in against his side. T’zili, it would seem, so far liked to nuzzle and press in close, which Sam definitely wasn’t complaining about. He’d always been a tactile person himself.

 **I won’t let him hurt you again.** Her thoughts buzzed over their bond, more intimate than any spoken word, and packed full of protectiveness and possessiveness. There was _worry-protectiveness-possessive-mine-mine-love_ laced through every inch of her. **I’ll chew his wings off and spit them on the ground if he tries!**

 ** _He’s not in his right mind right now_** _,_ Sam tried to send back. He hoped he managed it.

He must’ve, because she snorted against his ear. **I can’t stop you from forgiving him. That’s your choice. But _my_ choice is to not like anyone who thinks it’s okay to hurt you.**

That had Sam freezing for one brief instant. She hadn’t – she hadn’t even stuttered over the idea of him forgiving Castiel. Hadn’t tried to argue one way or another. She’d acknowledged his choice, respected his right to make it, and then offered her own opinion with the surety that he would grant her the same respect. It was… it was _amazing_. No one had ever done that before. Anyone else would’ve argued with him about how he should feel this way or that. They wouldn’t just, _accept it_.

**I’ll argue with you if I think you’re wrong – don’t think I won’t! But I’m not going to force you to have different opinions just because I don’t like yours.**

**_You’re amazing._ ** This… this was what he’d heard about and what he’d always wanted. A real bond. Tying himself to someone who wasn’t going to control him, or that he’d control – someone who was going to be a true partner. The other half of him. It was what he’d wanted and what he’d convinced himself he was never going to have. _The abomination_. He’d been so sure that he was never going to be worthy of something like this.

A little jolt of something buzzed against his neck like a small current of energy. His brain logged that away even as the rest of him focused on the words he could hear inside their bond. **You think you’re the only ‘abomination’ here?** T’zili lifted her head up until she could rest it right on his nose. It made him go a bit cross-eyed to look at her. She stayed there, glaring down at him and snorting, a hint of black smoke curling out from her nostrils. **Sam… my kind is rare. Really rare. I’m a _shadow dragon_. The only way we’re created is when a light and dark dragon mate – something you can probably guess _doesn’t_ happen. Especially not with the stigma that goes to dark dragons. I’m a mix of light and dark, day and night. Even _other dragons_ are afraid of dragons like me. To most of the world, I’m going to be just as much of an abomination as the angels think you are. But you know what? _I don’t care_.**

She said it with such fierceness and honesty there was no way he could doubt her.

Another huff of smoke slipped from her nostrils. **Let them be afraid. Maybe it’ll mean they’ll think twice before trying to touch you. I don’t care if they think I’m evil personified. The only opinion that matters to me is _yours_ , and I can feel that you don’t care. Just like I don’t care about the demon blood in you. So why should we care what they think?**

Sam had no words. His mind was just… blank. As he looked up into her eyes, he had a feeling it was a sensation he was going to be experiencing a lot. The same feeling that said she was going to keep him on his toes.

T’zili laughed and lifted her head away from his nose. “You better believe it. Now, as much as I’d like to keep you locked away in here with me until I feel like we’re better, I get the feeling you’d kind of hate me for it. So! If you want to go and save your brother and that idiot-angel, we better get moving. Your brother left a message to tell us where to go, but they’ve got quite the head start.”

The reminder of what was going on, what Castiel was trying to do and what they were trying to stop him from, was enough to have Sam moving. He barely noticed the scratches on his arm as T’zili climbed up to rest on his shoulder. It took a bit to be able to get up to his feet; his body ached like he’d been hit by a truck. Or thrown against a couple walls. But with T’zili’s help, he managed to get up, and it seemed to get easier to move with each step. There was a sense of something almost… fragile… at the edges of his mind. Sam knew that the hell memories were still in there just waiting to spring forward. For now, though, it seemed like T’zili was holding them back, or at least keeping him steady. He’d worry about what to do if that failed later.

For the moment, he moved out of the panic room and upstairs, his mind already building plans. First things first, he needed to raid Dean’s stuff up in their room here and see if he still had that spare set of leathers. He’d have to get his own later. For now, he just needed a way to safely carry T’zili with him. Next, he needed weapons. Then, he’d need to grab the keys to one of the many cars here and try and get to the address Dean had left him as quickly as possible.

T’zili nuzzled in against his hair right by his ear. **We don’t need a car. I can get us there.**

Surprise had Sam tilting his head towards her. **_You’re too young to fly_.**

**I’m a shadow dragon, Samuel… who said anything about flying?**

Only the instinctive trust he had in her kept him from pushing for answers. There wasn’t enough time right now. Sam hurried up the stairs and hoped every single step of the way that he wasn’t too late.


End file.
